Women are happier with work-life balance than men

Men are less likely than women to agree they achieve the right balance between
their work and homelife, new findings reveal.

The Office for National Statistics has found that more than six in ten women believe the balance between their professional and personal lives is just right.

Some 13 per cent of women 'strongly agreed' the way they balanced their lives was good, with an additional 48 per cent described it as 'fine'.

Jill Kirby, former chair of the Centre for Policy Studies' family and welfare policy group told the Daily Mail: "Women are broadly happy with the choices they are making at the moment.

"As we know from previous surveys, women are more interested in having time at home and often want part-time work so they can have the time they need with their children"

The report suggested that the majority of women do not require full-time jobs or taxpayer subsidies to work longer hours, saying: "Over half of employees in the UK agreed or strongly agreed that they achieved the right balance between their work and home lives.

"Men are less likely than women to agree or agree strongly that they achieve the right balance."

A quarter of women surveyed declared themselves to be unhappy with how they juggled work and home, as 17 per cent disagreed that the balance was correct, and 8 per cent disagreed strongly.

An additional 15 per cent said they were undecided.

Just over half of men - 53 per cent - said they felt their work-life balance to be good, while 31 per cent disagreed.

Psychologists have claimed that couples with very different careers were able to attain a better work-life balance than partners working in the same profession, as the latter are more likely to work long hours.

Presented last year at the British Psychological Society Division of Occupational Psychology Annual Conference, the findings stated that academic couples were more likely to struggle with their work-life balance, spend longer in the office and put more emphasis on their careers than academics whose partners had different jobs.

Last year the ONS found that just over 48 per cent of adults reported "relatively low satisfaction" with their work-life balance.

The report said obtaining “the correct balance” between work and home “can help increase and maintain levels of well-being”.

It also found that nine out of ten Britons said the most common pastime undertaken in free time was watching television.